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“How may I help you, Director?”
“Minister Li said you are familiar with my field.”
“Yes,” David said. “On behalf of the ministry, I just negotiated the return to China of a sculpture stolen during the Boxer Rebellion and taken to England.”
Every case required that an attorney become an overnight expert, and in recent years David had learned a lot about how artifacts moved. Ho would already know this, but he still delayed saying what he wanted by giving David background information. Another common custom….
“When China closed to outsiders,” Ho began, “Chairman Mao decreed that we had no use for the ancient past. Few excavations were conducted. Then, during the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guard were ordered to destroy any artifacts that could be read as symbols of a decadent or imperial past. Today we have a new mandate. We are to prove that China has had five thousand years of uninterrupted history. Although every schoolchild can recite that fact, we have no physical proof of the first two thousand years. So now we are trying to unite history, chronology, and newly discovered artifacts to validate our claim to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, we still know very little. For years we believed that the cradle of Chinese civilization was on the Yellow River, but we’ve discovered sites in other parts of the country that may suggest otherwise.” He smiled wanly. “As you know, China is backward in many respects.”
David knew the buildup. He’d heard it several times before. Now Ho would begin to talk about his problem, and it would probably involve foreigners—Americans most likely. Would it be an unfair exchange of information? Would it be something as simple as fraternizing between the races on a remote dig in the interior? None of this, David knew, was one-sided; each contingent liked to blame the other. That was the given.
As was the tenuous relationship between China and the United States that percolated above and below the surface of all that transpired between the two countries. Which country was more powerful? Which culture was more important? Most Chinese saw the United States as the most unfriendly nation to China, as the country they most resented, and as the one that would eventually pay the price for its bad manners. This last covered a broad range of indignities—from the perceived persecution of Overseas Chinese like Wen Ho Lee to the constant nagging by the West on issues such as human rights, the one-child policy, and sovereignty over Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tibet, that the average Chinese thought were none of America’s business. So, could the United States bomb the Chinese embassy and get away with it? Yes, though the fury that this act had brought to the surface had shocked the world. Could China shoot down an American spy plane and get away with it? Yes, though the righteous indignation with which David’s government responded was disingenuous to say the least. To David, it was all part of the cosmic Jell-O that made up his universe. Push a little on this side of the world, and a shudder rippled across the Pacific. Shove a little on that side of the Rim, and set off tremors here. David’s job then was to maneuver through these shifting tides without anyone questioning his integrity, his loyalty, or his demeanor.
“China has embarked on the greatest construction project in the world,” Ho continued. “But once the Three Gorges Dam is completed, the reservoir will cover over two thousand archaeological sites. What we call Site 518 lies two hundred and eighty of your miles downstream from Chongqing,
just east of the Qutang Gorge. I have come here today because we’ve suffered the loss of several artifacts from this excavation.”
“You’ve been in contact with the local authorities….”
“We’ve worked with the Security Bureau in Bashan, the town closest to the site, but what do a few policemen in a small village understand about thefts of this sort?”
And couldn’t it be possible, even probable, that those policemen were somehow involved? David mused.
“What specifically is missing?” he asked.
An odd stillness came over Ho.
“I’ve relied on the leader of the dig to keep me informed of what’s been stolen, but I am a long way from the Three Gorges and don’t receive as much information as I’d like.”
“Are you saying you don’t know?” David was skeptical of the idea.
“I am aware of the identity of certain pieces, but the team is pulling out artifacts faster than they can be cataloged, and we cannot begin a search until we file an international report detailing each missing item.”
The vagueness of the sentence mixed with Ho’s body language contained a lot of possibilities. Could the Cultural Relics Bureau be so disorganized as not to know what it was finding? Maybe the bureau wouldn’t know, but certainly they’d have to know at the site, wouldn’t they? There had to be something more….
Ho pulled on an earlobe and confided, “Even in the year 2002, archaeology is still a largely unmechanized profession. We work with shovels, spades, scrapers, and brushes. As a result, we see cuts, bruises, and sometimes broken bones. But Site 518 has had more than the usual number of problems.”
Ho gazed away as he said this last bit. David understood. You could tackle something head-on or pretend that you really weren’t saying it.
“I’ve handled several cases involving work-related accidents,” he prompted. The only good that had come out of the terrible events at the Knight toy factory was that they had opened a new practice area for David in workplace safety. These past few years, he had been hired not only by the Chinese but also by American and European companies to help avoid or correct abuses.
“I’m aware of your expertise in these matters. I’ve been told you bring to the table a unique set of abilities. Our entire country is grateful for what you did at the Knight factory.” Ho followed this piece of flattery with a new disclosure. “So far this summer we have had five accidental deaths.”
“All at Site 518?”
“All in the vicinity.”
“From what you’ve said, fatal accidents should be rare.”
“Correct.”
“So then what are these ‘accidents’?”
“A worker fell from a ladder. A bridge collapsed and three men died. And there was a drowning.”
“Except for the man who fell from the ladder, these don’t seem necessarily work related.”
Director Ho jutted his chin. It was the Chinese equivalent of a shrug, but what exactly did that shrug mean?
